Tag Archives | Star Wars

I’ve been posting about the 35th anniversary of The Shining over the last several weeks, but I thought it might be better to wait until it was officially summertime to post about the 40th anniversary of Jaws. The summer movie as we know it today didn’t exist until Jaws devoured box offices all summer long in 1975. Along with Star Wars‘ release in 1977, the pair of films changed the entire calendar of film releasing, creating the template for the modern blockbuster and put an end to the New Hollywood movement that made both of the movies possible in the first place.

Besides the game-changing industry impact of Jaws, the story of the making of the film was nearly as treacherous, desperate and paranoia-inducing as the plot of the film. From shooting on the open ocean, to doubts about the inexperienced director, Steven Spielberg, to the malfunctioning mechanical monster, it’s a wonder the movie ever made it to the screen.… Read the rest

What’s Jediism? Devotion to Star Wars? Apparently more than a few people are taking it so seriously that it’s more or less a religion, reports BBC News Magazine:

Followers of Jediism are aiming to build a belief system that goes beyond the Star Wars films. But does it amount to a new religion?

It began as a joke at the expense of statisticians. In the UK’s 2001 Census, 390,127 people – or 0.7% of the population – described themselves as Jedi. A question on religious belief had been asked for the first time in a census and Jedi – from the cloak-wearing, lightsaber swishing rebels in the Star Wars films – was a tongue-in-cheek response.

It was a post-modernist Star Wars joke by atheists. Or so many assumed. But for some the force was strong.

An ideas festival at Cambridge University this weekend will look at how new “religious movements”, such as Jediism, the Indigo Children and Wicca, have expanded online.

“A long time ago in a cookies and milky way galaxy far, far away…Princess Parfaita was taken prisoner by the evil Galactic Empire and had to be saved by a group of unlikely heroes including the young Luke Piewalker, Flan Solo, and Chewie the Cookie.”

This crazy video features an insane look back on the toys and cartoons of the 1980’s by a couple of confused evangelical Christians who see the Devil in every detail. Author Phil Phillips and Pastor Gary Greenwald would be just a couple of bumbling buffoons if their brand of humorless hysteria hadn’t been part of a bigger trend that lead to the “Satanic Panic” of that era — a time when hundreds of unsubstantiated cases of so-called Satanic ritual abuse were reported around the United States.

The good people at i09 published a short version of this video. Here are some of their favorite bits:

Brian Wood is the author of some of the present era’s smartest comic books, including “DMZ”, “The Massive”, “Channel Zero”, and “Northlanders”. Wood’s original works explore current events through characters trying to survive and even make a difference in the midst of political, social and environmental change. In addition to his all-original stories, Wood is well known for his work with popular franchises like Star Wars, Conan and the X-Men.

In this episode of the DisinfoCast, Wood and I talk about his work, the media, politics, the future and the difficulties an artist faces dealing with the expectations of his fans.

According to the Washington Post, the official petition to secure resources and funding for a Death Star has passed the 25,000-signature threshold, which means that according to stated White House policy, it will require an official response.

The petition can be found on the White House’s “We the People: Your Voice in Government” website, and claims “By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.”

The Obama administration has yet to issue a statement as to whether or not the project will be seriously considered. However, it is widely expected that both economic and reality factors could prove prohibitive. A different administration, such as that of Jar-Jar W. Bush and Darth Cheney, might have viewed the proposal more favorably. A Death Star project would undoubtably garner wide support in a Republican congress, and both Haliburton and Koch Industries are expected to submit construction bids.… Read the rest

I was unable to identify who created this clever illustration, but I’d love to know his or her name. I’m particularly amused by the artist’s choice of Salacious Crumb as a stand-in for the mainstream media. I can’t argue with that, or just about any of the depictions here.

Can we expand the analogy? What might Han Solo (frozen in carbonite during this particular scene from Return of the Jedi) represent? How about Luke Skywalker?

“On directed energy” — the term for the Navy’s laser cannons, “I’d say two years,” Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, the chief of the Office of Naval Research, told Danger Room in a Monday interview. The previous estimate, which came from Klunder’s laser technicians earlier this year, was that it will take four years at the earliest for a laser gun to come aboard.

“We’re well past physics,” Klunder said, echoing a mantra for the Office of Naval Research’s laser specialists. Now, the questions surrounding a weapon once thought to be purely science fiction sound almost pedestrian. “We’re just going through the integration efforts,” Klunder continued. “Hopefully, that tells you we’re well mature, and we’re ready to put these on naval ships.”